A.T. Kearney at a Glance

Uppers

"If you can prove yourself you can operate at any level outside of your given title."

"Very down to earth culture. Smaller size allows for more entrepreneurial opportunities and diversity of experiences."

Downers

"The long hours and being known for strategic sourcing."

"We need to communicate better to the outside world our growth story."

"Perception that a firm of our size won't last."

"You have to become comfortable with ambiguity."

The Buzz

"Small and focused."

"Old school, invented the industry."

"Past its prime."

"Operations experts."

About A.T. Kearney

THE SCOOP

An ascendant descendent

As a consultancy, A.T. Kearney has a rich heritage that takes it
back to the setup of McKinsey & Company and the arrival of
consulting as a profession in 1920s Chicago. When James Oscar
McKinsey set up his original firm in the city in 1926, one of the
first partners he was to hire three years later was a certain
fellow by the name of Andrew Thomas Kearney. Following McKinsey's
death in 1939, the firm's two offices-based in New York and
Chicago-split, with Kearney taking the latter and focusing the
company's attention on operations and manufacturing.

Today, that office has become a monster of a firm, with a truly
global reach; it has offices in 40 countries across the world. And,
of course, as it has grown over its nearly 90-year history, the
company has diversified its operations. Now boasting a workforce of
some 3,500 employees, it proudly focuses on what it calls
"CEO-agenda concerns," a list that ranges from merger, growth and
IT strategies, to supply chain management, innovation and
complexity management, and enterprise services
transformation.

In June 2013, leaders of A.T. Kearney formally launched Vision
2020 to colleagues globally. Johan Aurik, managing partner and
chairman of the board, introduced a new, bold, vision for the firm,
with the ambition of being the industry's most admired firm,
distinguished by "our culture and how we work." With this is the
ambition to be the "first choice in providing immediate impact and
growing advantage for our clients, our people, and the societies in
which we live"; and to be a "global collaborative partnership, top
three where we choose to compete, double in size by
2020."

The firm also outlined four key promises, which are as follows:
to be "be recognized for co-creation of innovative ideas and
high-impact results with our clients and external partners"; to
"create lasting benefits for the societies in which we live, in
collaboration with deep networks of external partnerships"; to "to
provide unsurpassed personal growth and opportunities for our
people in a collaborative and diverse culture"; and to "realize
above-market growth and value for our clients and stakeholders.
"

A failed romance

Looking at its more recent history, A.T. Kearney walked into
what can only be described as a loveless marriage in 1995 with
Texas-based tech monolith Electronic Data Services (EDS), now a
unit of HP. Initial intentions seem clear enough: EDS was looking
to boost its flagging consulting arm, while giving A.T. Kearney's
specialists access to some of its high-profile clients. The
reality, however, failed to live up to the intentions, and the
partnership lasted a mere 10 years. Various factors, including a
drop in EDS' earnings, cultural differences at an executive level
and a general dislike among A.T. Kearney's management of the notion
of being a subsidiary of a publicly held company soon led to a
parting of the ways. That officially occurred in January 2006, when
more than 170 of the firm's leading consultants (from no less than
26 countries) participated in a management buyout to take the firm
private.

Elite council

A key plank of A.T. Kearney's reputation is based on its Global
Business Policy Council. Established by Paul Laudicina as a forum
for corporate, government and academic leaders to discuss relevant
issues, the council is limited to the world's top CEOs and
business-minded leaders. The group meets regularly to anticipate
and plan for the future, discussing global economic, political,
social, and technological shifts.

Retail details

In addition to the advice and implementation work the firm does
for its clients, A.T. Kearney leverages its expertise by producing
a wide variety of studies each year that track trends in a range of
industries. Since 2001, for example, the firm has released an
annual Global Retail Development Index, which details retail
investment attractiveness in global markets.

IN THE NEWS

June 2014

U.S. Grows More Attractive for Foreign
Investment

"The U.S. has grown more attractive as a destination for
foreign investment, while Russia and some other emerging markets
have faded, according to a survey by A.T. Kearney." Read the full
story in the Wall Street Journal
(subscription/login required).

10 Best Emerging Markets for Retail

CNBC produced a slideshow featuring the 10 best emerging markets
for retail, based on A.T. Kearney's annual Global Retail
Development Index. The index "selects 30 out of 200 developing
nations and scores them on criteria including political risk,
population, saturation and retail sales. The rankings determine how
important it is for retailers to plant their flag there." See
the full slideshow here.

May 2014

Leadership insight from Paul Laudicina

A.T. Kearney Chairman Emeritus Paul Laudicina began a regular
column for Forbes, focusing on values-based and
relationship-rich leadership. Find a full archive of his posts here.

January 2014

To B or not to B

The Economist reported on an A.T. Kearney study of
women as buyers of B2B services in the U.K. economy. According to
the piece, "Nearly half the companies covered in the study reported
an increase in female decision-makers among their B2B customers,
but until now little attention has been paid to their likes and
dislikes." Read the full article here.

May 2014

Fracking Insiders See No End To Boom

A.T. Kearney Partner Vance Scott was quoted in Forbes
article on the prospects for the future of the fracking industry in
the U.S. "There is an estimated 5 to 6 trillion barrels of oil
locked up in shale […] resources up to 15 times the size of the
largest oil field in Saudi Arabia, he said. 'To date we've used as
a species, depending on the source, 700 billion to a trillion in
oil.'" Read the full article here.

March 2014

Interview with Johann Aurik

In an interview with the London Business School's Business
Strategy Review, A.T. Kearney Managing Partner Johann Aurik
discussed the firm at length. Topics included elements of the
firm's history, as well as his thoughts on Vision 2020, the firm's
roadmap for the future. Read the full interview here.

June 2013

Vision 2020

A.T. Kearney introduced Vision 2020, with the ambition of being
the industry's most admired firm, distinguished by its culture and
how it works, doubling in size by 2020.

Industry recognition

Johan Aurik, the firm's managing partner and chairman of the
board, featured on the cover of Consulting magazine for
its annual list of "Top 25 Consultants." The headline notes, "A.T.
Kearney's evolutionary change: Johan Aurik takes over a firm that's
rediscovered its groove. Renewed optimism, regained confidence and
a re-invigorated sense of purpose define the A.T. Kearney."

January 2012

Defining the Brand

The firm introduced a new look to further distinguish its
86-year-old brand in the global consulting marketplace. The updated
visual identity followed a yearlong initiative to clarify the
firm's distinctiveness and further define its brand.